Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with venomous status, family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell look-alikes apart.
Central American Bushmaster
One of the largest venomous snakes in the Americas, a massive, reclusive pit viper of Central American rainforests.
Green Anaconda
One of the world's heaviest snakes, a massive semi-aquatic constrictor of South American rivers and wetlands.
Southern Brown Egg-eater
A harmless, plain brown egg-specialist snake widespread in southern Africa, capable of swallowing bird eggs whole despite its small head.
Olive Whipsnake
A slender, olive-brown to greenish diurnal snake of Neotropical forests known for its speed and agility in fleeing threats.
West African Egg-eater
A harmless, egg-specialist snake from West and Central African forests, notable for its ability to swallow eggs many times the width of its head.
Calabar Boa
A cylindrical, burrowing boa-like snake from West and Central Africa with a distinctive blunt tail used to confuse predators.
European Adder
The only venomous snake native to the British Isles, with an enormous range spanning from western Europe to the Russian Far East, including areas within the Arctic Circle.
Yellow Anaconda
A large, semi-aquatic constrictor of South American wetlands, smaller than its relative the green anaconda but still among the heaviest snakes in the Americas.
Olive Python
One of Australia's largest snakes, a plain olive-brown python found around rocky gorges and river systems in the continent's arid and tropical north.
Amethystine Python
One of the longest snakes in the world, this iridescent brown python takes its name from the amethyst-like sheen its scales cast in sunlight.
Central American Mussurana
A robust, dark-colored colubrid from Central America famous within its genus for preying heavily on other snakes, including venomous species.
Spectacled Cobra
One of India's 'Big Four' medically significant snakes, famous for the spectacle-shaped mark on its raised hood.
Kingsnake
A glossy, nonvenomous constrictor famous for preying on other snakes, including venomous species, thanks to partial immunity to their venom.
Indian Cobra
A highly venomous cobra of the Indian subcontinent, famous for the spectacle-like marking on its hood and its role in traditional snake charming.
Nose-Horned Viper Ammodytes
Europe's most venomous snake, easily identified by a distinctive soft horn-like scale projecting from the tip of its snout.
Malayan Krait
A slender, black-and-white banded krait of Southeast Asia, closely resembling the many-banded krait and regarded as one of the region's most medically significant snakes.
Reticulated Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African snake specialized for hunting centipedes, with a fine reticulated pattern and a mild venom adapted to subdue its arthropod prey.
Rhombic Egg-eater
A patterned southern African egg-eating snake, closely related to (and often considered the same species complex as) the common egg-eater, marked by bold diamond-shaped dorsal blotches.
Neotropical Snail-eater
An alternate common name for the widespread snail-specialist snake found across humid Neotropical forests, known for its slender build and molluscivorous diet.
Round Island Keel-Scaled Boa
The last surviving species of an ancient, highly endangered snake family, found only on Round Island near Mauritius and rescued through conservation breeding.
Round Island Boa
A now likely-extinct burrowing boa once endemic to Round Island near Mauritius, notable for its unique jaw structure among snakes.
Boomslang
A slender, large-eyed African tree snake famous for its potent hemotoxic venom delivered through rear fangs, making it one of the few colubrids capable of causing severe or fatal envenomation in humans.
Many-Banded Krait
A slender, black-and-white banded krait of East and Southeast Asia with venom among the most potent of any land snake, well known in the herpetological and medical literature.
Japanese Mamushi
A small but medically significant pit viper widespread across Japan, responsible for the majority of the country's venomous snakebites.